Bernie Ecclestone has told Lewis Hamilton to rip up his Ferrari contract and ‘do something else’ if he doesn’t feel like he has the pace to compete with future team-mate Charles Leclerc off the back of a difficult 2024 season.

While victories at Silverstone and Spa-Francorchamps provided some hard-fought returns to the top step of the podium, the 2024 campaign has been one of the toughest of Hamilton’s career, and he has been challenged significantly by team-mate George Russell.

Performance on Saturdays has been a particular struggle for the seven-time world champion. Combining Grand Prix qualifying and the sprint shootout sessions, Hamilton has been outqualified by Russell on 20 occasions, finishing ahead of his team-mate just six times.

Hamilton’s qualifying prowess will be tested to the maximum when he joins forces with Leclerc next season. While the Monegasque racer has eight Grand Prix victories to his name, he is considered the sport’s greatest current qualifier, registering 26 pole positions in his short F1 career thus far.

“I don't think it will be easy for Lewis. Especially in that team,” former F1 supremo Ecclestone told the Daily Mail. “They will back Charles Leclerc. He's quick and has grown up there. They won't dump him for anyone.

“However, from Lewis' point of view, it may not have been a mistake to join Ferrari. He couldn't exist any longer at Mercedes. Either he's given up with them or they have given up on him. They wouldn't do much to keep him, so he is better off going.”

Asked if Hamilton could walk away from his Ferrari contract altogether, Ecclestone continued: “He would have to walk away from a lot financially. It is a big deal he has got, though I suspect the bonus clauses written into his contract are there to make him feel good rather than reality.

“For John Elkann, the guy who runs it, it was a big ego thing. He thought he had captured the best guy the world had ever seen. When he signed him there was nothing to indicate he was wrong in that assessment. Whether he is still happy with that is another story. Only time will tell.

“If Lewis is fading, which I don't like to see, he should go away and do something else, and do a good job at it. He's now one of the older generation - and didn't he say he wanted to hear less from them?”

Unfortunately, Hamilton has little chance of ending his Mercedes career on a high following a dismal weekend at the Brazilian Grand Prix. The Brit could only manage a P10 finish in Interlagos and labelled the car the worst it has been all season.